Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1887-07-15
ATTACKED BY PIRATES.

am never tired OF nearing thOsO
who 90 down to sea in ships speak
Of their perils and adventures. A
bronzed old Jack Tar, who was
anchored alongside of me for a
couple of hours the. other day, and
who answered to the name OF John
Scott, gave me the following thrill
ing incident, which l believe to be
true in every detail:
"It was in the spring of 1872"
said Scott, as he made ready, "that
1 ran away from the American
bark Twin Sisters at Hong Kong,
being thoroughly disguised with
the tyranny and cruelty Of the
captain and mate. There was a
Frenchman there who kept sort
of hiding place for runaways, and,
although We we're pretty sharply
looked after for few days, we
we're not discovered, and the bark
went on up the coast. We knock
ed about for a few days without
turning up anything, and then l
shipped aboard a small brig which
traded between Hong Kong and
the Philippine Islands, TO the east.
She was called the Explorer, and
her Captain and part owner was an
Englishman named Garnsey. The
mate was also an Englishman, and
of the six men of us before the mast,
two were Americans, one a Lascar,
one a negro, and the other two
were Norwegians. We were all
runaways, and glad enough to get
a lob, and when we found captain
and mate pretty good fellows, and
the brig tight and well found, we
turned with a will and showed a
full measure of gratitude. The
cargo, as | remember it, was made
up OF a little OF everything for gen
eral trading. The brig had made
three or four voyages along the
west side OF the islands, and this
time, as we left Hong Kong behind
us, We steered to the east, that we
might 20 down on that coast Of
Luzon Island, which is by all odds
the largest Of the hundred or more
islands dotting Pacific from OPP
posite Hong Kong, but 300 miles
away, down to New Guinea and
Borneo.
awe had the best of weather and
a fast run while going to the east
ward, nor did we meet with a mis-
hap of any sort until working down
the coast Of Luzon. Then the
winds were light and battling for
several successive days, and we
made but slow progress to repay
us for our hard work. The winds
we're still heading us when the
captain was taken sick. Some sort
OF fever seized him all Of sudden,
and it must have had stout hand
to keep him down, for he was in
the prime of life, and a strong man.
II was on the third day of his ILL
ness, and the mate had reported
him as no better, when, at 3
o'clock IN the afternoon, as we were
about four miles off the coast of
Luzon, and we'll toward Its south
ern end, a junk put out from a bay
and sailed on a line to intercept us.
There was no port there, and we
were not flying a trading signal,
and the mate had not taken more
than a glance at the junk through
the glass when he exclaimed:
"May / be called a marine if that
fellow isn't up to mischief
~ was acting as mate at the
time, and he handed me the glass,
and asked me to 60 alOft and take
a good squint at the junk. hadn't
the glass on him over a minute be-
fore / was satisfied that he was a
pirate. he had as many as thirty
men aboard, and I thought I could
make ont two howitzers on his deck.
He had no signal or flag flying, as
would have been the case had he
wanted to speak or salute u.s.
There was but little wind, and we
scarcely had steerageway, and the
Junk was also moving slowly. BE.
fore descending to the deck 1 LOOK.
ed around the horizon, and down
in the northeast / noted indications
Of a change Of weather. Ny report
on the junk was eagerly awaited,
and when | had finished it Mr..
Reynolds said;
"Look you, Scott, that fellow is
after us, and if he takes the brig,
none of us will be spared. Will
the men fight ?
"Why, sir, what have we to
fight WITH
"Muskets-a dozen OF 'em-and
plenty of ammunition. Here, men,
come aft
ait needed only a few words OF
explanation, for the men had made
up their minds what sort of a Gus
toner was creeping up on our star
board bow. The muskets were
brought up, and with them five OF
six old cutlasses covered with rust,
without the captain being the wise
for it. Indeed, he was out of his
head, and could not have been
made to understand the situation
anyhow. When We had made such
preparations as we could, the junk